First Central American immigrants to arrive Thursday in Las Cruces

Casa de Peregrinos staffer Diana Alvarez organizes items that have been donated to Project Oak Tree, an effort by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to provide shelter, food and other supplies to undocumented immigrants who are part of a recent border influx. (Robin Zielinski Sun-News)

LAS CRUCES &GT;&GT; Organizers coordinating a short-term-stay shelter for Central American undocumented immigrants in Las Cruces said they received an overwhelming response Wednesday from volunteers and donors looking to help with their cause.

Meanwhile, officials with the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces said the first immigrants could arrive Thursday at the make-shift hostel — an event hall at Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral's campus off Espina Street.

Las Crucens have been filling out and dropping off applications to volunteer at the diocesan headquarters, 1280 Med Park Drive, Las Cruces.

"We have had nonstop influx today (Wednesday) of people signing up to volunteer," said Susan Roberts, a director at the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces. "The response has been absolutely tremendous."

The strong response happened a day after an announcement by Bishop Oscar Cantú, who asked the public to volunteer and give donations to the effort, dubbed Project Oak Tree.

Oak Tree Project manager Leonel "Lonnie" Briseño said donors have been stepping forward to help with everything from providing towels and laundry service to sheets for the cots that will be used in the shelter.

"It's beautiful to see how it's all falling into place," Briseño said. "The community has come together to make this happen."

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Briseño on Wednesday visited a similar shelter in El Paso to learn more about its operations.

Church officials said they're expecting mainly women and children will be housed at the cathedral's Finley Hall. The undocumented immigrants, who will stay for between 24 and 36 hours before moving on, are those who have already been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials and turned over to the custody of the federal immigration authorities, church officials have said. By the time they reach the church, authorities will have released them on their recognizance.

"It's a resting point, a stopping point before they move on," Roberts said. "They are more so refugees versus immigrants."

The first group is expected to arrive about 1 p.m. Thursday at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral, organizers said.

Briseño said he's still awaiting word from city fire code officials about how many people will be allowed to stay in the shelter. But the project is hoping to house at least 150.

A proposal to open a temporary detention facility in Artesia — different from what's being proposed the Las Cruces church — for immigrants has sparked outrage among residents in that area.

Las Crucen Mayra Corral said she and her sister were hoping to become volunteers.

"We want to help people in need with whatever we can," she said.

On the Sun-News Facebook page, reactions to the diocese's plan were mixed, with both criticism and support expressed for the project.

Roberts said the diocese hasn't received much negative feedback.

Hygiene items needed

A local emergency food bank, which is accepting the food donations for the immigrant shelter, and a second-hand store, which is taking non-food donations for it, said they, too, had numerous donors stop by.

As many as 200 people contributed non-food donations to Recycled Treasures, a thrift store affiliated with the Catholic Church, said store manager Araceli Landeros. That's "definitely more" than an average day, she said.

"The response has been tremendous — not only from Las Cruces. We've also had people from El Paso," she said.

Most donations at the store, 2215 S. Main St., have been of clothing. But there's still a great need for items such as diapers, feminine hygiene products and travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothbrushes.

"For the personal hygiene items, we probably need a lot more," she said.

Diocese officials said cash donations also will help with buying bus tickets for immigrants, who will travel to other parts of the country after stopping in Las Cruces.

Food donations strong

Lorenzo Alba, director of Casa de Peregrinos food bank, said his organization was anticipating donations to pick up in response to the diocese's effort — something that indeed panned out.

"They started coming in early this morning," Alba said. "They've been coming in consistently all day. We don't see it easing up any time soon."

Through midday Wednesday, about 15 people had dropped off food, such as beans, tortillas and meat, at Casa de Peregrinos, 999 W. Amador Ave., Alba said. That's in comparison to about one or two people donating within the same time frame on a typical day.

Alba said the nonprofit food bank usually gets donations from different sources, including churches, school groups, businesses and other organizations. Usually individual donors make up a smaller share of donations. But that wasn't the case Wednesday.

"These are actually coming from individual donors in pretty large amounts," he said. "Everybody has been very specific that it's for Project Oak Tree," he said.

The food bank is usually only open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but it will be closed this Friday for the Fourth of July holiday, Alba said. Though it will be closed the rest of the week, Alba said people wanting to donate large quantities of food — more than a car full — can send him an email to coordinate that: casadepere@yahoo.com.

"If it's absolutely the only day they can do it is on the Fourth, we'll be available for that, as well," he said.